The problem of pouring liquids from a container into a receptacle in a relatively inaccessible location without spilling any of the liquid is well known. As a general rule, the container must be either tilted or turned upside town in order to discharge its contents. Frequently, the problem occurs when attempting to pour motor oil or transmission fluid into valve covers or fill spouts having narrow openings which may be partially obscured by other engine components or be separated as by ignition wires and coolant hoses from the closest approach of the container.
Currently, several devices (typically funnels) are available for screwing onto the neck of an oil container to attempt to control the flow and direction of the oil. These devices suffer from the disadvantage of their size, which prohibits them from being bundled with the oil containers when packaged. They also do not lend themselves to manufacture by companies when the oil container is being produced; they are also capable of soiling objects with which they may come into contact after their use, and need to be stored in an air tight bag to prevent the device from soiling objects with which they may come into contact.
Other devices control oil discharge by permanently affixing a secondary seal formed from a thin foil over the mouth of the container. These devices prevent leakage or accidental spillage of the contents, but are unable to selectively release the oil while the container is inverted and aligned with an opening in the intended receptacle.
Various attempts have been made to overcome the foregoing disadvantages. U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,706 to Piccard discloses a Mechanical Oil Seal Breaker comprising a seal perforation blade loaded internally of the container, to puncture the secondary seal affixed to the container mouth when the container is squeezed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,531 to Rhodes, Jr. discloses a frangible air tight seal that is purported to rupture in some fashion when the bottle is squeezed, due to the increased internal pressure. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,082 to Sampson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,390 to Markva, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,857 to Russell each disclose essentially flat secondary seals that are asserted to either rupture or release the adhesive bond holding the seal to the container mouth in response to pressure applied by squeezing the container. Since the above described secondary seals are permanently loosened or ruptured in order to discharge the oil, they can not be resealed when only a portion of the oil in the container is used. Moreover, the force required to stretch and then rupture the seal tends to too quickly discharge the contents of the container. If the foil seal is ruptured and pushed into the container or the foil seal is ruptured upon squeezing the container pieces of the foil could flow with the oil into the intended receptacle and possibly cause damage to an engine by blocking the engine oil raceway or oil mains.
The Spill Proof Plug disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,152 is a reusable plug inserted in the mouth of a container which can be forced from the mouth when the container is inverted and squeezed. The containment wall portion of the plug inserted into the container mouth however, is of uniform diameter and must be made slightly larger than the container mouth to insure an air tight fit while at the same time not being so tight as to prevent the plug from being forced from the opening when pressure is applied. Furthermore, the internal stem that prevents the plug from being separated from the container also holds the plug directly in front of the container mouth, thereby disrupting the smooth pouring of oil into a receptacle in those situations where the neck of the container will not fit within the receptacle opening or the opening is partially obstructed.
Accordingly, I have discovered that a need exists for a discharge control device which does not have the aforementioned limitations and disadvantages.